War of wordplay in Washington

Current and former USAID employees and supporters of foreign aid rally against President Donald Trump’s stop-work order on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 5, 2025. President Donald Trump’s early moves to slash the federal government and expand American territory represent significant ideological swings from his first term. (Valerie Plesch/The New York Times)

OF all the changes under way in Washington, one of the deepest has to do with the very language that is spoken.

In order to remake the government, President Donald Trump and his administration are remaking the language used to describe the government.